Why did Russia revive the tank that "drinks gas like water"?

The T-80 is a third-generation main battle tank (MBT) designed and built in the Soviet Union. When it entered service in 1976, it became the world's first MBT to be powered by a turbojet engine, three years before the American M1 Abrams.

This design is very similar to an aircraft engine, making the T-80 tank roar when accelerating, no less than a jet plane running on the runway.

The turbine engine on the T-80 tank can use a variety of fuels such as gasoline and diesel. This reduces dependence on logistics forces, and even allows the crew to use enemy fuel depots. Each T-80 only needs three minutes to start up and enter combat mode, instead of 30 minutes like the T-72 tank using a diesel engine.

However, the biggest weakness of the T-80 tank engine is that it "guzzles gas like water", consuming many times more fuel than the T-72 using diesel engines. The original design made the 1,000-1,250 horsepower engine of theThe T-80 must operate at full capacity even when the tank is stationary, causing the amount of fuel it consumes to be 2-4 times higher than the T-72.

Similar to the American Abrams series, the turbine engine on the T-80 also has many problems when operating in hot and dusty environments.

To overcome this disadvantage, the UralVagonZavod factory has recently manufacturedThe upgraded version T-80UD applies the mechanismSeparate the main engine from the vehicle generator to achievefuel consumption is equivalent to that of the T-72 tank. This design allows the vehicle to turn off the turbine engine when stationary, using only power from the generator to operate the equipment.

The T-80 tank was developed from the T-64A platform, inheriting many features such as the driver sitting in the front compartment, while the commander and gunner sat in the turret equipped with an automatic loader. The engine exhaust is located towards the rear, instead of to the side like other tanks of the same period.

The T-80 series was designed specifically to face NATO tanks head-on on the vast plains of Europe. It was designed for deep penetration of enemy lines, rather than fighting with mechanized infantry formations like the T-72 series.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union deployed more than 4,000 T-80 tanks on the borders of West and East Germany. This armored force allowed the Soviet army to strike first across Europe and reach the English Channel within days if war broke out.

The T-80 is one of the most heavily protected tanks in Soviet history, equipped with composite armor, combining multiple layers of steel and fiberglass. The front of the turret of the basic T-80 model can withstand HEAT rounds equivalent to 650 mm of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA), while the improved T-80U variant has a shell equivalent to 1,320 mm of RHA.

In addition to the main composite armor, the T-80 is also protected by Kontakt-5 explosive reactive armor (ERA) blocks. The underside of the vehicle's nose, front of the turret, and both sides of the hull have many hard rubber armor plates to detonate HEAT rounds. The T-80 is also the only Soviet and Russian vehicle equipped with the Arena active defense system, in addition to the Shtora-1 passive defense system.

The main armament of the T-80 is the 125 mm 2A46M-1 smoothbore gun, each vehicle is capable of carrying 36-45 rounds depending on the version. The main gun can use a variety of ammunition, including HEAT, high explosive fragmentation (HEF), armor-piercing fin-stabilized subsonic split-type (APFSDS) and anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) with a maximum range of 5 km. In addition to the main gun, the T-80 tank also possesses a 7.62 mm PKT coaxial machine gun and a 12.7 mm NSVT remotely controlled machine gun.

Similar to the T-64 and T-72 series, the main gun on the T-80 tank is also equipped with a Korzina automatic loader with a capacity of 28 rounds. Each shell is divided into a propellant charge and a warhead, which are pushed into the barrel by Korzina before firing. The location of each type of shell is saved in the computer system, allowing the gunner to choose the appropriate attack solution for each target. The automatic loader system helps the T-80 achieve a firing rate of 7-8 rounds/minute, not affected by the loader's physical strength or vibration while maneuvering like Western tanks.

The T-80 tank first saw combat in December 1994 during the battle for the Chechen capital Grozny. However, this deployment was considered a disaster for the T-80 tank as well as the Russian armored force.

Most T-80s at that time lacked explosive reactive armor, and their crews were not adequately trained in urban warfare. T-80 units had to raid the narrow streets and high-rise buildings of Grozny, a task not originally designed for this type of tank.

The Grozny defenders deployed on high-rise buildings and fired multiple anti-tank rounds at the roofs and sides of the vehicles, the areas with the least armor protection. The T-80s were completely helpless due to the poor elevation angle of the gun, unable to hit the targets on the upper floors. However, the composite armor still showed its strength, withstanding many anti-tank rounds before being penetrated. Some vehicles only exploded when the penetrating beam hit the vertical charge in the Korzina system.

After the heavy losses in Grozny, the Russian army never deployed the T-80 to storm the city, they only played the role of supporting infantry from a safe distance. The weakness of the T-72 and T-80 in urban warfare also prompted Russia to develop vehicles to counter infantry at high altitudes such as the BMPT armored tank support vehicle.

A total of 5,404 T-80 tanks were built. During the Soviet Union, they were used as strategic weapons and were never exported. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia and Ukraine sold T-80s to many countries. Currently, Russia is still the country with the largest number of T-80 tanks, with about 550 in combat service and 3,000 in storage, ready for use when required.